Our Doctrines

We Believe: 1. that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," by which we understand the whole of the Book called the Bible; nor do we take the statement in the sense in which it is sometimes foolishly said that works of human genius are inspired, but in the sense that the Holy Spirit gave the very Words of the sacred writings to holy men of old: that His divine inspiration is not in different degrees, but extends equally and fully to all parts of these writings, historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical, and to the smallest word, and inflection of a word, provided such word is found in the original manuscripts (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 2:13; Mark 12:26, 13:11; Acts 1:16, 2:5).

2. that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons, The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence and obedience (Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6).

3. that man, originally created in the image and after the likeness of God, fell from his high and holy estate by eating the forbidden fruit, and as the consequences of his disobedience, the threatened penalty of death was then and there inflicted, so that his moral nature was not only grievously injured by the fall, but he totally lost all spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and subject to the power of the Devil (Genesis 1:26, 2:17; John 5:40, 6:54; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 5:6; 1 John 3:8).

4. that this spiritual death, or total corruption of human nature, has been transmitted to the entire race of man, the man Christ Jesus alone excepted; and hence every child of Adam is born into the world with a nature which not only possesses no spark of divine life, but is essentially and unchangeably bad, being enmity against God, and incapable by any educational process whatever of subjection to His law (Genesis 6:5; Psalm 14:1-3, 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:6; Romans 5:12-19, 8:6-7).

5. that, owing to this universal depravity and death in sin, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation, however great; no attainment in morality, however high; no culture, how- ever attractive; no humanitarian and philanthropic schemes and societies, however useful; no baptism or other ordinance, however administered, can help the nature imparted from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is absolutely essential to salvation (Isaiah 64:6; John 3:5, 18; Galatians 6:16; Philippians 3:4-9; Titus 3:5; James 1:8; 1 Peter 1:23).

6. that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was made to be sin, and made a curse, for us, dying in our room instead, and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church, or of all the churches that have existed since the days of the Apostles, can add in the very least to the value of that precious blood, or to the merit of that finished work, wrought for us by Him Who united in His person true and proper divinity with perfect and sinless humanity (Leviticus 17:11; Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:6-19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

7. that Christ, in the fullness of the blessings He has secured by His obedience unto death, is received by faith alone, and that the moment we trust in Him as our Savior we pass out of death into everlasting life, being justified from all things, accepted before the Father according to the measure of His acceptance, loved as He is loved, and having His place and portion, as linked to Him, and one with Him forever (John 5:24, 17:23; Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:4-6; 1 John 4:17, 5:11-12).

8. that it is the privilege not only of some, but of all who are born again by the Spirit through faith in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured of their salvation from the very day they take Him as their Savior; and that this assurance is not founded upon any fancied discovery of their own worthiness; but wholly upon the testimony of God in His written Word, exciting within His children filial love, gratitude, and obedience (Luke 10:20, 12:32; John 6:47; Romans 8:38; 2 Corinthians 5:1, 6-9; 2 Timothy 1:12; 1 John 5:13).

9. that all the Scriptures, from first to last, center about our Lord Jesus Christ, in His person and work, in His first and second coming, and hence that no chapter even of the Old Testament is properly read or understood until it leads to Him; and moreover, that all the Scriptures from first to last, including every chapter even of the Old Testament, were designed for our practical instruction (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Acts 17:2-3, 18:28, 26:22-23, 28:23; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11).

10. that the Church is composed of all who are united by the Holy Spirit to the risen and ascended Son of God, that by the same Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, and thus being members one of another, we are responsible to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all sectarian prejudices and denominational bigotry, and loving one another with a pure heart fervently (Matthew 16;16-18; Acts 2:32-47; Romans 12;5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:23; 4:3-10; Colossians 3:14-15).

11. that the Holy Spirit, not as an influence, but as a Divine Person, the source, and power of all acceptable Service and Worship, is our abiding Comforter and Helper, that He never takes His departure from the Church nor from the feeblest of saints, but is ever present to testify of Christ, seeking to occupy us with Him, and not with ourselves nor with our experiences (John 7:38-39, 14:16-17, 15:26, 16:13-14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8-9; Philippians 3:3).

12. that we are called with a holy calling to walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, and so to live in the Spirit that we should not fulfill the lusts of the flesh; but the flesh being still in us to the end of our earthly pilgrimage, needs to be kept constantly in subjection to Christ, or it will surely manifest its presence to the dishonor of His name (Romans 8:12-13, 13:14; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:1-10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9).

13. that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do at death immediately pass into His presence, and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming, when the soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but the souls of the unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the judgment of the great white throne, at the close of the Millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (Luke 16:19-26, 24:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15).

14. We believe in the "Blessed Hope" , the personal imminent, pretribulation, premillennial return of the Lord Jesus Christ for his redeemed ones. These being all those who are in the "Body of Christ" by faith in His finished work of redemption and who are members placed in this body by the work of the Holy spirit. Also known to be the Bride of Christ (John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15;51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4;13-18; Titus 2:11-14; 2 Corinthians 11:1-2).

15. We believe that the Second Coming is in two parts . The first, the coming for his Saints and the Second, His coming with His saints to earth. These two comings are separated by seven years of the Tribulation period. The second part is climaxed by the return to earth of Christ with His Saints, to judge the nations (Matt. 25:31-46); bind Satan for a thousand years and introduce the Millennial Age, and to restore Israel to her own land where she will realize the covenants and promises of God made to her forefathers (Zechariah 14:4-11; Romans 11:25-27; Revelation 20:1-6; Ezekiel 37:11-14).

16. that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man withoutceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1, 14; Isaiah 7:14; Colossians 1:19, 1:9).

17. that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice and through faith in this finished work we are justified from all things in the sight of God. His resurrection the sanction of God on the completeness of the work (Isaiah 53:10; Romans 3:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15;3-4; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:17; 1 Peter 1:3-5).

18. that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Advocate, Representative, Intercessor (Acts 1:9; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1-2).

19. that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of man's fall in the Garden, and the open and declared enemy of God and man and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Job 1:6; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:13-19; Matthew 4:2-4; Revelation 20:10).